


Big Cats

by loki_of_jotunheim



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Spyfest 2020 (Alex Rider)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 08:20:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25467661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loki_of_jotunheim/pseuds/loki_of_jotunheim
Summary: For SpyFest 2020, week 4. I just wanted to revisit this universe, to be honest.Prompt: [Character] seems scary until you give them a/an [item].Nile seems scary until you give him a knife with a big cat on it.Set in the same universes as The Curious Case of No Assassinations (TCCONA) and Quarantined, but you don't have to have read those to get this. Explanations for things in this that might need clarification will be at the end in the notes.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23
Collections: Spyfest 2020





	Big Cats

Ita was relaxing at Malagosto. Some might think that’s an oxymoron but no. It was a nice break sometimes, where you could get the adrenaline rush and (relative) protection (from government entities and other assorted groups who wanted you arrested or dead) at the same time. Since graduation, which...had been extremely bizarre, to say the least (they hadn’t been entirely convinced by the petty power play story, and after a slight bit of hacking had been even  _ less  _ convinced), Ita had completed three successful jobs - the third of which ended up being an assassination. It seemed the ban had ended.

Nile and Yassen returned a few weeks into their stay and aside from noting their initial arrival, Ita tried their best to stay out of their way. Cossack on his own was scary enough but the damage the two together could cause was legendary. Ita was just grateful their younger tagalong wasn’t there as well. Ita had heard stories about meeting him - they would rather not get one of their own.

It all seemed normal. Ita went to a few of the classes every week (they especially enjoyed the disguise class), had lunch, and generally relaxed. 

And then Nile got a package. 

It would have been normal except this was Malagosto. You didn’t get packages here, and if you did, they weren’t usually … benign. 

After the package had been thoroughly checked and cleared, Nile was finally allowed to open it. The students and instructors couldn’t resist but crowd around as he finally received it. Cossack, standing in the corner, seemed as impressive as ever but Ita thought they could sense a tiny bit of amusement underneath, but it was a gut feeling at best. 

The package (a small, plain box with one word: Nile on it) was opened and Nile drew out a small dagger. He seemed confused at first but his eyes caught on the handle and he slowly began to laugh. 

Nile. Laughing. That was a first for Ita. 

It was strangely...adorable. 

Ita caught a glimpse of the knife’s handle and … sort of understood? The figure on the handle was a leopard mid-motion. Graceful, deadly - it fit Nile. Who would have sent it, though? And why was he laughing so much? 

The answers weren’t to be gained that day, sadly. Cossack and Nile left, refusing to answer any questions and the mystery was allowed to linger. Gossip spread like wildfire. A secret lover? Old enemies? Childhood best friend? 

“You really think Nile still talks to anyone he knew as a kid?” Someone said, and that was the end of that particular thought. The novelty wore off eventually and the rumors moved on to other things (Were Gordan and the Countess having an affair? Was Yassen secretly a vampire? Seriously, four hours was ridiculous, even for them.). 

That is, until Alex arrived. He was far too young to be involved in anything like this, but here he was. And he was scarily competent. Ita had just barely gotten one over on him in their last fight. 

Nile and Alex were in the cafeteria chatting one day when Ita arrived for lunch. They let the two be and sat at a table a respectable distance away. Mid-meal, Alex and Nile finished and stood to leave. Ita caught a flash of metal on Alex’s belt and suddenly everything made sense. Alex was Yassen’s, that was pretty clear (and if it wasn’t, one of the three made it clear shortly after whoever it was had fucked up), but Nile and Alex had something like a sibling relationship - minus the infighting, interestingly. 

Matching knives made total sense.

The mystery solved, Ita dismissed the entire thing from their mind and went to get their next assignment. It had been a nice vacation. 

**Author's Note:**

> ...yeah I just wanted to write in this universe again tbh. I just. I wanted Nile and Alex to have matching knives alright?? And I wanted to bring back Ita, who is nonbinary and awesome. 
> 
> So, to make any of this universe work - the facts are that: Yassen is alive and Alex is alive and Julia Rothman just mysteriously vanished after Eagle Strike oh noes :(. 
> 
> So for Quarantined - the relevant portion is that Nile gave Alex a knife with a cat carrying a kitten on it as kind of a joke but also a gift, and Yassen offered to train Alex after he learned that MI6 was blackmailing him. For TCCONA: At the time Ita graduated, no assassinations were being allowed as graduation assignments, so they were sent to retrieve a highly guarded teddy bear. They succeeded.


End file.
